Florida players blast Zook's firing

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - When the Florida players assembled for a Monday afternoon meeting, most of them had already heard that coach Ron Zook had been fired.

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However, the advance knowledge of the official announcement didn't ease any of their anger at the move. Most of that anger was directed at athletic director Jeremy Foley.

They unleashed it moments into the meeting, after Zook spoke for a few minutes and then gave way to Foley.

"It got very heated," junior safety Jarvis Herring said Tuesday. "The questions only lasted 10 minutes. If it would've lasted any longer there's no telling what might've happened. He (Foley) couldn't answer the questions that we were asking. He was very repetitive."

Herring said players were yelling during the meeting, and about 12 of them walked out while Foley was speaking.

"Before he came in we had to watch coach Zook about to cry," Herring said. "Quite a few guys walked out because they don't even want to see his (Foley's) face.

"We're really just torn apart, just torn apart. He basically just ripped the heart out of the team.

"He was saying kept saying it was all about the team, all about the team. No, it's not about the team. It's really about the damn boosters and the fans or whatever, that's all it's about. It's nothing about us. We're just in the middle. We're just trapped."

Linebacker Travis Harris said he spoke to Foley at the meeting and told him he didn't appreciate Zook getting fired seven games into his third season.

"It wasn't proper language, but basically [I told him] I thought it was BS," Harris said. "I just let him know that it wasn't well thought-out. If a decision needed to be made, that's cool, but if the coach is going to remain the whole season, why put a damper on this year like that? This is my last year. I've got so much to remember in the middle of the season, and we still got Florida State, Georgia and two SEC games left. Why not wait?

"I just don't understand that. It just felt like he was saying, 'Forget the rest of this season. I don't care what you guys think.' They didn't ask us about anything."

Harris said Foley didn't give him a satisfactory answer to any of his questions.

"He just gave me the run-around," Harris said. "He said you're entitled to your opinion. He felt like it was the best thing to do and blah, blah, blah."

Foley said on Tuesday that he accepted that the players were upset at the situation and expected them to be angry.

"I understand their disappointment and anger and they are entitled to their opinion," he said.

Herring said Zook's firing proves the administration doesn't care about the players.

"Damn the players. We're the ones who make this, but it's damn the players," Herring said. "It's all about the fans and the boosters. We love the fans, but the boosters make all the decisions."

Both Herring and Harris said they expected players to transfer or leave early for the NFL because of the move. Two prominent losses could be running back Ciatrick Fason and linebacker Channing Crowder. Fason said on Tuesday that he will wait and see who is hired before making that decision.

"There are guys that want to transfer, there are guys that want to do a lot of things," Herring said. "They're sick of some of the decisions made upstairs by you-know-who, so they're ready to go."

Herring also said he believes the transition to a new coaching staff will be harder for the younger players, especially the freshmen.

"That's the reason they came here, for coach Zook and his coaching staff," Herring said. "Now it's basically like saying, 'Hey, we got you here. We got what we wanted. We're bringing in the next coach to see if we can use you all for his system or whatever.' It's basically just telling them, ' -- you all. I don't care about your season anyway.' "